The Renault Samsung SM7 is an

executive car Executive car is a British term for a large car, and is considered equivalent to the European E-segment and American full-size classifications. Executive cars are larger than compact executive cars (and the non-luxury equivalent mid-size cars ...

full-size car Full-size car—also known as large car—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than mid-size cars. It is the largest size class for cars. In the United Kingdom, this class is referred to as ...

(

E-segment The E-segment is the 5th category of the European segments for passenger cars, synonymous with the term executive car. E-Segment is a niche in Europe (2-3% penetration in 2010s). In 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, E-segment sales accounted for 2.7% ...

in Europe) that was produced by the South Korean manufacturer

Renault Samsung Motors Renault Korea Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean car manufacturer headquartered in Busan where its single assembly site is also located, with additional facilities at Seoul (administration), Giheung District, Giheung (research and development) and D ...

from 2004 to 2020.

First generation (EX2)

In October 2002,

started to work on the "EX" project, a new car based on the Nissan J31 platform which shared underpinnings with the Nissan Teana (in Asian markets) and the sixth-generation

Nissan Maxima The Nissan Maxima is a five-passenger, front-engine, front-drive sedan that was manufactured and marketed by Nissan as Nissan's flagship sedan primarily in North America, the Middle East, South Korea, and China — across eight generations. ...

(in Europe, North America and Australia). On 30 November 2004, the new car was revealed to the public as a high-end model. To distinguish it from the Teana various changes were made to the design with the aim of giving it a more solid image. The car had a significant safety equipment as standard. It was presented in five trim levels: SE, XE, LE, XE35 and RE35.

Engines

The SM7 is fitted with either a 2.3L or 3.5L Neo VQ V6 engine, developed by

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

. The 2.3L version was fitted to the SE, XE, LE trim levels and the 3.5L to the XE35 and RE35.

2008 facelift

In 2008 a facelifted SM7 called New Art () was introduced, with a new front grille and improvements to handling and acceleration. The car dimensions were also slightly changed.

Gallery

File:00 SAMSUNG SM7 1.jpg, 2009 Renault Samsung SM7 New Art front File:00 SAMSUNG SM7 2.jpg, 2009 Renault Samsung SM7 New Art rear

Second generation (L47)

A new generation SM7, based on a stretched version of the third generation Renault Samsung SM5 (L43), was revealed and went on sale in South Korea since August 2011. A near-production concept version was presented in April. The development of the new car took more than 32 months, at a cost of about 400 billion won (270 million

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s). It was conducted by the

R & D Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage of d ...

department of Renault Samsung. The powertrain consists of two third-generation

Nissan VQ engine The VQ is a family of V6 automobile petrol engines developed by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Nissan and produced in displacements varying from 2.0 L to 4.0 L. Designed to replace the Nissan VG engine, VG series, the all-aluminium Multi-valve, ...

s (of 2.5 and 3.5L) coupled with a 6-speed manual and

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. The 1904 ...

s. The car has an integrated front bumper-grill with bi-xenon adaptive

headlamp A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for t ...

s an

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

lamps on the rear. Renault Samsung presented three trim levels called SE, LE and RE. The equipment, depending on version, includes three-zone automatic air conditioning, improved ABS system, special

headrest Head restraints (also called headrests) are an automotive safety feature, attached or integrated into the top of each seat to limit the rearward movement of the adult occupant's head, relative to the torso, in a collision—to prevent or mitiga ...

, fragrance diffuser, massaging seats, dual-stage airbags, paddle shifting and pressure-sensitive dampers.

Engines

LPG

In August 2015, Renault Samsung introduced a

liquified petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas, also referred to as liquid petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas), is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, ''n''-butane and isobutane. It can also contain some propyl ...

-powered SM7.

2012 facelift

The 2013 model year of the SM7 added a blind spot monitor system, a new satellite navigation and multimedia system and tyre pressure sensors. It also had minor changes to the front grille design.

2014 facelift

In September 2014 Renault Samsung unveiled a facelifted SM7, the SM7 Nova (). The car incorporated the renovated design of the company introduced in the QM3, with a new front-end layout. It has a new

infotainment Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of inform ...

system and a "

smart ''SMart'' was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingha ...

mirroring" application. "Nova" is the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word for new star.

Renault Talisman

The Renault Talisman is a revised version of the SM7 sold exclusively in the Chinese market since June 2012, under the

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

marque. It was Renault's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

saloon in China. The Talisman takes its name from a 2001 concept car and was unveiled at the 2012

Auto China Beijing International Automotive Exhibition (), Beijing Motor Show () or Auto China is an auto show held biennially in Beijing, China since 1990. 2024 The 2024 Auto China show dates are scheduled for 25 April - 4 May 2024 at the New China Interna ...

. The aim of its introduction was to reach the young businessmen.

End of production

According to press reports, Renault Samsung stopped production of the SM7 in late 2019 and all stock was sold by early January 2020. The company removed the car from sale on its website that month.

References

External links

* {{Renault SM7 Executive cars Full-size vehicles Sedans Front-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 2004